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Helplines flooded after church probe announced

Jill Stark and Jane Lee

SUICIDE helplines, psychologists and support groups have been flooded with demand for counselling, as sex abuse victims urge the royal commission to focus on institutional cover-ups and creating a compensation scheme.

Following the November 12 announcement of the royal commission, the Lifeline national suicide helpline, which usually manages 1500 calls a day, fielded 250 extra calls a day from abuse survivors, some of whom had never spoken of their ordeals.

While the number of royal commission-related calls has since dropped to about 40 a day, Lifeline chief executive Jane Hayden said the service was still stretched and demand was likely to increase again when proceedings begin.

''Callers are not coping with their own emotional reactions to the news and not knowing where to turn. People want to tell their story but they're distressed because the media coverage reminds them of what they suffered.''

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A date has yet to be set for the start of the royal commission, which could run for several years.

Ms Hayden's call for extra government funding for victims was backed by Frank Quinlan, chief executive of the Mental Health Council of Australia, which represents 180 mental health services.

''I have been personally approached by people who are experiencing increased levels of distress in relation to matters that they thought had been put to bed a long time ago,'' he said.

Heather Gridley, of the Australian Psychological Society, said that while the size of the royal commission might empower some abuse survivors, it would be also be traumatic. ''The secrecy around sexual assault, in a systemic way like this, is one of the biggest things,'' she said.

''So someone's had to live with a secret, be blackmailed, threatened, cajoled into not telling and all those kinds of things. It's like sitting in a dark room, and then you've been out of the dark room for a long time and suddenly you're back in there again, so it's not surprising that it triggers such distress.''

As Monday's deadline for submissions from victims' groups approaches, Mark Fabbro, a leader of the Survivors' Network for those Abused by Priests, said commissioners should investigate concealment of sexual crimes against minors, with those who sought to destroy or hide evidence held criminally liable.

''It's important for justice and to ensure that in future, religious organisations are dissuaded from using the same mechanisms they have historically,'' he said.

In Good Faith and Associates, which testified at the Victorian inquiry into child abuse, agreed. The group will submit that commissioners investigate the ''movement and cover-up of activities of offenders''.

The group's recommendations were based on concerns raised directly by victims over the years, researcher Clare Leaney said. She said commissioners should investigate a fair way to compensate all victims. ''We have seen multiple instances where $5000 has been offered for quite substantial incidents of abuse,'' Ms Leaney said.

Care Leavers Australia Network executive officer Leonie Sheedy said compensation was needed to ''repair shattered lives'' of victims, who were at an economic and social disadvantage as a result of abuse. ''We left those institutions with no money … with government-issued clothing if we were lucky, and were left to fend for ourselves,'' she said.

She said many victims struggled to survive. ''We're in low-paying jobs, a lot of care leavers are on disability pensions, a lot of them are very anxious about their funerals.''

The Catholic and Anglican churches declined to comment on their planned submissions. The Uniting Church said it did not plan to make a submission, as that was the prerogative of victims.

For help or information, call Suicide Helpline Victoria on 1300 651 251 or Lifeline on 131 114, or visit beyondblue.org.au.